Forum:What does NCC and NX mean?
What does the letters and numbers NCC-1701 stand for on the U.S.S. Enterprise's ship???? -- :NCC-1701 is a registry. A registry is a way of identifying ships by means other than a name. The NCC doesn't stand for anything in particular in Trek canon. The 1701 means about as little. --Alan del Beccio 08:53, 31 January 2007 (UTC) ::Also, see . To quote: "NCC doesn't stand for anything. It was devised by Matt Jefferies, art director of the first Star Trek series. Jefferies, who is a pilot, based NCC on 20th century aircraft registration codes. In such 20th century usage, an "N" first letter refers to an aircraft registered in the USA. A "C" second letter refers to a civil aircraft. Jefferies added a second "C", just because he thought it looked better. Think of it as being like the arbitrary three-letter code that's part of automobile license plate numbers in many states." -Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 21:53, 2 February 2007 (UTC) A:::It is also very similar to the way military Naval vessels are identified. US warships (and other nations' Navies) use 2 or 3 letter abreviations preceding the hull number of the ship. For example: The USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65). The CVN identifies the ship as a nuclear powered carrier. The number 65 identifies it as the 65th carrier built. But that's just a real-world explanation. - Fritz Stein 14:18, 29 March 2007 Do we ever see ships that, within a single three-letter code, have a numerical code that is ever lower than that of a previously-constructed ship? If not, it stands to reason that the four letters might reasonably represent build order, as with modern navies. - Last I heard, 1701 was Roddenberry's house number. - mngrifATgmail.com Some also especulate that "NCC" also means 'N'aval 'C'onstruction 'C'ontract, but it seems odd to have such name in a 'Star'fleet :-- MstrControl talk | 14:19, 2 May 2007 (UTC) - A Naval Construction Contract is a contract to build, not a ships designation. Check this site for all USN Ship's designation letters: http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/designat.htm. As I have always understood it, NCC = Nuclear Combat Cruiser. The first episodes refer to the propulsion system on Enterprise as a "Fusion Reactor." The concept of Matter/Anti-Matter didn't come till later on. The 1701 represents the number of design changes to the ship (exaggerated - "we must have made 1700 changes to the dam thing...") with the "01" being the final application of the designation "NCC-1701." True? Who knows. Several of the production staff at Desilu (including Desi and Lucy) were business associates of my father and thats how it was explained to me in the 60's. Seems to make the most sense. - F_Corradi@msn.com :When did the first episode refer to it as "fusion powered"? Besides, if we were following standard US Navy nomenclature that way, it would be CCN (like SSN, CGN, CVN, etc.) --OuroborosCobra talk 15:10, 19 December 2007 (UTC) - Offhand, I believe one of the references to a Fusion Reactor being onboard Enterprise is made in Episode 35 (The Doomsday Machine) which is actually in Season 2. (I said first episodeS.. not first episode) You can also look under "Impulse Drive" right on this site on this page: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Impulse_drive. There are lots of designations and meanings that have been changed as the saga matured, such as the term "Constitution Class" which was never mentioned until TNG. Throughout the original series, Enterprise is referred to as being "Starship Class" and designated as such on the dedication plaque from the bridge set: http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7019/ncc1701dedicationuw0.jpg In episode 4 (Mudd's Women) The Crystals are called "Lithium Crystals." In the pilot, Phasers were called Lasers, "Warp Drive" was "Time Warp" and Spock used to smile. (Vulcans must really dig those wiggly plants! LOL!) Regarding Navy nomenclature, since designation CCN doesn't exist, and a USN Nuclear Research vessel is designated as NR, a Nuclear Combat Cruiser could easily be designated as NCC. Theres no standard or defined pattern as to the letters or their order used in designations. For example, the letter "A" could mean Auxilary, Amphibious, Ammunition, Support, and others. Perhaps they picked the letters "NCC" because they DON'T exist. - F_Corradi@msn.com